Approximately 3,400 military personnel will take part in the multinational exercise “Sea Shield 2023” to be held in Romania from March 20 to April 2, the Romanian Naval Force announced on its website on Wednesday, March 15.
The complex exercise is planned to take place in the southeastern part of Romania, including in Romanian rivers, on the open sea, in the Danube Delta, and along Romania’s coastal area. According to Romania’s Naval Forces, the exercise will involve soldiers and representatives of several institutions of the national defense system, as well as 12 other allied and partner countries — Albania, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Greece, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Moldova, the United States and Turkey.
Executing the training sequences planned by the Romanian Naval Forces will be: more than 30 military vessels of the Romanian Naval Forces; two military vessels of the Bulgarian Naval Forces; 14 aircraft from France, Romania, the United States of America and Turkey; 15 fast intervention craft and patrol vessels of the institutions of the national defense system; 57 military vehicles and other combat capabilities including mobile launchers, detachments of special operations forces and divers for incursion combat and against explosive devices; specialists in CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) defense; and platoons of infantry and military paratroopers.
The multinational exercise “Sea Shield 2023” is the most complex training event planned and conducted by the Romanian Naval Forces, through the Naval Component Command, for the training year 2023. It contributes to the promotion of Romania’s regional and international initiatives and interests, as well as increases the level of interoperability between the participating forces.
“Sea Shield” is a complex concept for training allied forces and was proposed by Romania at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016 to strengthen security measures on the southeastern European flank. The opening ceremony of the multinational exercise will take place on Monday, March 20, in the port of Constanța, where the purpose, objectives, participating forces, and the exercise’s deployment modalities will be presented.
Although the Romanian Navy is relatively small, currently consisting of three frigates and seven corvettes, its Black Sea port in Constanta hosts an important NATO base supporting military operations in the region.
